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What is Your Fridge Telling You?

September 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Recently I went without power because of the hurricane and had to throw out all the food in my refrigerator. As I started to restock it I noticed something. It felt really good to look into my fridge and not see it over packed with food. It gave me a sense of calmness and a bit of a thrill to actually see what I had to work with for dinner.

I also noticed that my life in the past two years reflected what was in my refrigerator. When I was working and taking care of the kids and didn’t feel overwhelmed I was able to plan meals and by the end of the week I could actually see that most of the food in my fridge was used up. I didn’t have tons of produce left over which would eventually rot. Then I got super buy launching a business and I didn’t see the bottom of my fridge for several years.

Shopping for me when I am overwhelmed and too busy looks like this: “I need to stock up on sunflower seed butter and other items at Trader Joes because I don’t know when I’ll have the time to get back there”. When I would run to the local grocery store I would buy whatever I thought I could use to feed my family but with no specific menu plan and as a result I spent more than my budget allowed. Basically I was running on fear; fear I wouldn’t have time to get back to the store, fear 20 people might stop by and I needed to be prepared. Are you familiar with that syndrome? I am Irish Catholic and was brought up always to expect to feed an army at a moments notice and I have to say that they haven’t shown up yet.

Are you so busy and overwhelmed that you don’t have the time to plan meals? Take a look in your refrigerator. If you have tons of leftovers, rotting produce and over stocked shelves I bet your life is super busy; maybe too busy. Perhaps your fridge is telling you to take a moment and breath; to cut back on some of the craziness in life and get to a place where planning dinner and shopping is not riddled with anxiety and stress but joy. It is possible; well maybe not so much joy if you don’t like to cook but perhaps less stressful for you.

Perhaps fear of your finances is what drives you most. Most of us are concerned about money and cost is a leading factor in what we buy. If your fridge has limited or no fresh fruits and vegetables at all than it is saying something different; it is saying that you lack vibrancy in your family’s diet and perhaps there is limited energy in your lives. I was once told by an ancient Asian medicine man that “life gives life”. Food that comes out of the ground unprocessed like green leafy foods support life, food that only comes out of boxes and cans is dead food and can not sustain a healthy life.

I would like to challenge myself and you to stop shopping out of fear? Fear of not getting back to the store, fear of not having enough money to pay for groceries, fear of a hurricane, tornado, flood or other natural or man made (terrorist) disaster? We live in a fear based society and any time we turn on the news we are reminded of all there is to be afraid of. How about you join me in trusting; trusting that it will all get done, that you will have time to get back to the store and the resources to buy what you need. My goal is to see the bottom of my fridge at the end of each week and not to overstock and over-buy just because something might happen. Let me know how it goes.

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September – Eat 2 Fruit a Day!

September 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment

In September the focus is on fruit; the whole fruit and nothing but the fruit.  If you are a busy parent and have a hard time getting your child to eat fresh fruit everyday, you probably let them drink several juice boxes to make up for it.  In fact, you may even give them the new variety of juice that provides vegetables and fruit in a juice box.  Great, you think; you can kill two birds with one stone and have them drink the fruit/vegetable juice and avoid the battle you have with them when you try to get them to eat whole fruits and vegetables.

Is there something wrong with this approach?  Sadly there is.  I am all about giving you short cuts and easier ways to feed your child a healthy diet but when children drink too much juice, it is not healthy for them.  When your child drinks juice instead of eating the whole fruit it prevents their taste buds from developing a taste and a preference for the texture of whole produce. They set their taste buds up to want more and more sweet tasting food and drink instead.  If your child is the type that downs 3 or 4 juice boxes a day, chances are they also want cookies, candy and cake as well.

If your child drinks too much juice at one sitting they can get diarrhea and a tummy ache. If they continue to drink a lot of juice every day this can lead to cavities, becoming overweight as well as being malnourished if they substitute juice for other food that they should be eating.  It can also prevent your child from reaching their height potential. Did you hear that?  Your child can develop a short stature from consuming too much juice and avoiding a balanced diet.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has set a limit on the amount of juice that your child should be drinking every day because they know the risks associated with drinking too much juice.  The recommendation is 4-6 oz of 100% juice for children 1 to 6 years, and 8-12oz of 100% juice for children 7 to 18 years of age. The AAP does not recommend juice for babies under 6 months of age and drinking juice from a bottle is not advised.

In summary, because it is so easy to over-consume calories by drinking too much juice and avoid eating a balanced diet, it is best to limit the amount of juice that your child drinks to the amount set by the AAP.  Make sure the juice that you do offer your child is 100% juice and not a juice cocktail, a juice-ade or juice drink. Your child should eat their fruit instead of drink it. Make sure they get at least two servings a day.

Filed Under: National Health Month Tagged With: , , , , ,

It is What You Choose Now That Matters Most

August 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment

This July was my 18th anniversary of surviving non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.  Some may say it is a miracle seeing that I was given two weeks to live in my twenties but I think it was more than that.  I believe I survived because of the choices that I made after the diagnosis.  I never believed in the death sentence, instead I looked for the message that the cancer brought me.  So was my surviving a miracle? You bet, but if I didn’t step up to the plate as well and make different choices for myself, I don’t believe I would be here today.

That is the reason I have spent the last two decades teaching and coaching about making healthy choices.  I truly believe that the decisions that we make every day, the small and large ones, add up to us going down a path of health or disease.  It breaks my heart to see how this generation of kids is sprinting down the path of diabetes, heart disease, cancer, obesity and a shortened life span.

I spoke to a group of girl scouts last spring and there was an eight year old girl that caught my attention.  She was so afraid of getting cancer like her grandparent that she asked my exactly what she should and shouldn’t eat.  I didn’t want her to approach food fearfully so I called her mom and left a message. She never called back and I don’t think it was because she didn’t have her child’s best interest at heart. I came to find out that her mother has a very busy job and feeds her daughter pizza and baked chocolate chip cookies almost every night for dinner.  I don’t think the mom wanted to hear what I had to say.

In my experience, many busy parents think the junk and processed food that they feed their kids either won’t hurt their child’s health because they ate it growing up and they are fine, or else they really just don’t want to think about it too much because it adds up to one more thing to do and they already have an overloaded plate. I created the Build Healthy Kids program for exactly this type of busy parent. I spent three years researching and creating a plan that would not overwhelm parents or their children.  All a family has to do is to focus on making one change a month and by years end they will be living a healthy lifestyle; one that promotes health. All it takes is to make one choice at a time.

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Dr. Deb on the Rhode Show!

August 11, 2011 By Leave a Comment

I had such a good time on the Rhode Show today with Patrick, Danielle and the best sous chef ever: Courtney. Good luck with eating fruit! If you didnt catch it, click here to see me on the Rhode Show: http://www.foxprovidence.com/d​pp/rhode_show/rhode_show_cooki​ng/nut-butter-roll-ups-veggies​-and-fruit

Nut Butter Roll ups, veggies and fruit: foxprovidence.com

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August – Involve Your Kids!

August 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment

August seems to come and go so quickly. Many of us are enjoying the last moments of fun in the sun with our kids while others can’t wait for our little darlings to go back to school.  No matter what camp you are in, and I vacillate between the two, take some time this month to involve your children in all aspects of food.

Just like animals in the wild, we are our kids’ primary source of information when it comes to food. It is fascinating to watch a polar bear teaching her cubs how to hunt for themselves. She pounces on ice to hunt fish and seals underneath and then will tear it apart once she has caught it.  That mother polar bear is teaching her cubs what they need to eat, how to hunt for it and how to eat it. Our children need to learn how to plan, shop and prepare food too. It is never too early to start as long as you are careful.  As soon as my boys were able to stand at the kitchen counter I gave them a job to do; washing vegetables and biting into them were their favorite activities.  It helped them to learn by interacting with a new food in a playful and non-stressful manner.

I see lots of kids today that are so afraid to try new food that they start to shake just when you show them the new food. If your child is fearful of trying anything that they have not eaten before, make sure that you let them interact with the new food before you ask them to eat it.  Having your child help you to select a recipe, pick a new vegetable or fruit to try at the market, and/or wash the new vegetable at home, will help your child to familiarize themselves with that new food before they are asked to eat it. A sticker chart works wonders here for the younger child: place a finger, a nose and a mouth in one of three columns on a sheet of paper.  Your child gets to place a sticker under the column when they touch the new food, smell the new food and finally work their way up to taste the new food.

Children also benefit greatly from learning where food comes from so that they are able to see the difference between what food is supposed to look like and the highly processed stuff that passes for food a lot of the time.  Explain where foods comes from when you are both at the market or better yet, plant a small garden or shop at a farmers market. You don’t want your kids to grow up thinking chicken comes in nice neat packages, potatoes are always sliced into chips or fires, or it’s OK to eat food that glows in the dark or stains their mouths a neon green.

The more involved you children are in all aspects of food, the better chance you will have of bringing up a healthy eater. Even eating as a family has long lasting impact on children. When children leave the home in their twenties, they will eat a healthier diet away from home if they came from families that ate together as compared to families that did not. Wherever you are, start there. If you don’t eat together at all, try to eat together as a family just one night a week and work your way up to what works for your family.

Filed Under: National Health Month

Is your child’s lunch cold or hot enough? Startling facts you need to know!

August 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment
unhealthy lunch box

UNHEALTHY LUNCHBOX

Did you ever wonder if the lunches that you pack for your kids for school or daycare are keeping their food cold or hot enough?  Well researchers at the University of Texas did. They analyzed 705 lunches of preschoolers to make sure that they were kept in the safety zone: below 40° F for food and beverages that you want to keep cold or above 140° F degrees for hot items. When food is kept at a temperature between 40° F and 140° F bacteria can grow and your child can potentially develop a food borne illness which can be serious.

What did the study find? It was shocking: only 1.6% of the food items that they measured were in the safety zone and that was 1 ½ before lunch time even occurred. These findings bring to light the importance of not only eating food that is healthy in terms of it’s nutritional value but also in terms of how safe it is too.  Cooking meat thoroughly, reducing the chance of cross contamination and following practices that keep food cold or hot enough are all very important practices to follow. In this study almost 40% of the lunches had no ice packs in them.

You do not need to stop packing your child’s lunches as long as you follow some safe practices for handling and storing food. Below are some tips for packing healthy lunches:

1. Start with a clean working surface at home so that you don’t transfer bacteria on a cutting board or counter to your child’s food. Keep pets off your counters!
2. Begin with cold ingredients as they will keep food in the lunch box cooler for longer; refrigerate juice boxes, milk boxes and fruits and veggies before putting them in your child’s lunch box.
3. For hot items, add boiling water to your child thermos to get it very hot before adding heated soup or heated leftovers.
4. Make sure to include at least one ice pack in your child’s lunch that is thick enough to last the amount of time necessary between leaving the house and eating their lunch.
5. When you include food that is susceptible to bacterial growth, make extra sure that you put that ice pack right up against it or even sandwich the following susceptible items between two ice packs. These foods need to be kept cold (do not leave at room temperature for more than 2 hours):

    • Meat, poultry, fish, eggs
    • Anything with mayonnaise in or on it
    • Peeled or cut fruits and vegetables
    • Dairy products like milk, cheese, and yogurt
    • Open container of applesauce or pudding

6. Use a top quality thermos, ice pack and lunch container to keep food hot or cold and don’t put hot and cold items in the same lunch box.

7. Pack non-perishable items for later use or if you are not sure how well your child’s lunch box holds up. The following foods do not need refrigeration

    • Prepackaged fruit cups
    • Dried fruit (raisins)
    • Dried cereal or crackers
    • Shelf stable, single serving milk or milk alternatives (soy or rice milk)
    • Nuts and seeds (if no allergies are present), nut butters and sunflower seed butter
    • Fruit in its original packaging: bananas, oranges, grapes, cherries, cherry tomatoes

8. Rinse and dry all fruits and vegetables before packing with water.

I am concerned that many families will take the results of this study and eliminate vegetables for non perishable items in their child’s diet.  This does not need to happen as long as you are careful when packing your child’s lunch and you use a quality lunchbox/bag and ice packs. Follow the safety tips above and pack several ice packs to make sure that you have all the essential elements to a healthy lunch: whole grain and protein, a fruit and a vegetable and a good source of calcium.

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What’s Up With Dad?

July 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment

It seems that everywhere I go nowadays I am pulled aside by frustrated moms who try their best to feed their children a healthy diet, only to have it ruined by …the school cafeteria meal? ; the grocery store with it many junk food options? ; Grandma who feeds candy and soda to her grandkids?   No, the culprit undermining mom’s healthy diet efforts is most often their spouse!  Many moms tell me about their efforts to cook healthy meals and buy healthy food for the family only to have their hard work ruined because their husbands either bring ‘forbidden’ food home or cook a separate meal if “junior” does not like what she has prepared.  These moms plead with me to help them by telling their significant other (who often is standing right beside them) to stop doing that!  Does this sound familiar to you? I bet it does.

 

In fact, only yesterday I helped a wonderful family with 5 boys! The youngest two are what most would call picky eaters; they both eat little to no fruits and vegetables. This mom reached out to me to help convince her husband to stop sabotaging her efforts when it comes to feeding their boys a healthy diet.  The youngest son would drink 5 chocolate milks a day if mom did not place any limits on him.  She recently stopped buying flavored milk at the store, but dad would come home with several cases if he found them on sale.   

I decided to look at what was really going on, because it was obvious to me from the beginning of our meeting that these were two great parents who loved their sons very much and would do anything for them.  The father was never given chocolate milk as a child. He came from a large family and had to eat what was served; quickly before his many brothers and sisters beat him to it too.  When I questioned why he brought the chocolate milk home he replied that he thought it was a better option than the soda or juice his child drank and since his son was a picky eater to begin with, the calories and calcium would be good for his child. These were all very valid points.

 

In my experience, most dads are not setting out to intentionally thwart their wife’s best efforts to provide a healthy diet, nor do they want to harm their child.  In many situations the dads don’t realize the impact of their actions, or they have fond memories of certain foods from their childhood and they want to share that with their children.  When I had this dad pull 50 pounds of sugar out of grocery bags and place them on his kitchen counter, and I told him that this is what his 50 pound five-year old son drinks in sugar each year from the chocolate milk he brings home, his face fell and he was overcome with guilt. At that moment, his wife saw the truth in his eyes and was secure in knowing that this was the end to the chocolate milk battle. 

I realize it is easy to blame; we all do it. Next time you feel as if your spouse is sabotaging your efforts to feed your children a healthy diet, try taking the time to ask him about his relationship with food. You may just find a clue that will help you both work together in bringing up healthy eaters.  

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July – Limit Soda and Juice

July 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment

It is summer time and for most of us that means hot weather.  What do your kids reach for to quench their thirst: soda, energy drinks, sports drinks, juice, milk or water? Most of the time all they need is water unless they have been exercising or sweating for prolonged periods of time in the heat. A sports drink can replenish the water and electrolytes lost from lots of sweating but for most kids, water will do after regular exercise.

Many kids today reach for flavored water, energy drinks and sports drink on a regular basis throughout their day and younger children reach for juice and flavored milk instead. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010 listed soda/energy drinks/sports drinks as the number one source of added sugar in a child’s diet today.  On average, kids today drink 7.5 teaspoons of added sugar from these beverages.  That may not seem like a lot at first glance but when you add that up it equals 56 cups of sugar a year from soda, energy drinks and sports drinks!

What is all this sugar doing to our children’s bodies? Children are at an increased risk of developing ADHD, autoimmune disease, cavities, certain cancers, candida, chronic Fatigue Syndrome and fibromyalgia, chronic sinusitis, decreased immune function, diabetes, heart disease, irritable bowel syndrome and spastic colon, metabolic syndrome, and obesity from taking in huge amounts of added sugar every year.  Since sugary drinks are the number one source of added sugar in a child’s diet it makes sense to limit the amount that you give your child.

Children only need water to quench their thirst and remain hydrated throughout their day.  How much water do they actually need?  The following table lists minimum water requirements assuming that in addition to the water your child is also drinking 2-3 glasses of milk a day and ½ to 1 cup of juice too.

 

Age of Child Minimum* Water Requirements
2-3 year 1 ½ cups
4-6 year 2 cups
7-8 year 1 ½ cups
9-13 year Boy 4 cups
9-13 year Girl 3 cups
14-18 year Boy 7 cups
14-18 year Girl 4 cups

* These are estimates of the minimum requirements for water. If your child is outside in hot weather, sick, exercising for prolonged periods of time, or is on certain medication they may need more. Let their thirst dictate how much they need.

In children who drink lots of sugary beverages, their taste buds have developed a preference for sweet tasting drinks over regular water. In order to turn this bad habit around, reduce their intake of sweet drinks by ¼ cup a day until they are drinking mostly water, up to one cup of juice a day and plain unflavored milk. Stay tuned for more on this as I am writing a book on sugar addiction in kids that will be coming out next year (2012).

Image Source: Project Swole
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Reading Between the Lines

June 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment

In the stifling heat, while waiting for a train to NYC the other weekend, I met a really smart young boy.  He was about 6 or 7 years old and approached me drinking a diet soda.  His grandmother came over right behind him and commented on his choice of beverages. I replied with “there are so many things wrong with this picture that as a kid’s nutritionist, I think I’ll just keep my mouth closed.”   I really was prepared to keep my mouth shut, as I don’t like to impose my views unless asked, as it is everyone’s right to eat and drink what they prefer.

 

That was all it took though to strike up an animated conversation between us and her grandson.  He told me his dream was to one day to drink an entire monster drink; one of those large energy drinks he sees his mother’s boyfriend drink. He got very excited about it as it seemed to be one of those “big boy” things he saw adults and teens do that he wasn’t allowed to do yet.   

I proceeded to explain to him that there was nothing in a soda that could make him grow up big and strong and that those energy drinks that he referred to can actually be harmful. I mentioned that many people had to go to the emergency room each year from drinking these drinks and half of those were kids.  I also told him that a group of people that work with his doctor (the American Academy of Pediatrics) just came out with a report saying that kids should not drink these energy drinks and warned his doctor of the danger.   

I asked him how he felt after drinking some of his mother’s boyfriend’s energy drink and he said he felt lousy and didn’t even like the taste.  He was actually excited about the idea of drinking this harmful beverage but in reality he wasn’t looking forward to the taste and how it made him feel. At the end of our half hour conversation he told me he never, ever wanted to drink one and seemed very relieved to not have to drink it anymore. 

 

I think we underestimate children’s ability to understand the consequences of unhealthy eating.  I also strongly believe that as parents, we have been brain washed to trust that when a child says that they like or dislike a certain beverage or food that they actually mean what they say.  Most of the time, however, they are actually saying something different.  I don’t like this broccoli translates into I would rather eat more potatoes.  I want a monster drink actually meant to this smart young boy, I want to be cool.  It is our job of parents to learn how to read between the lines. 

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AAP on Energy and Sports Drinks

June 5, 2011 By 1 Comment

The American Academy of Pediatrics has released some new advice regarding your kids and their consumption of sports and energy drinks.  Since these drinks are the #3 source of calories in the diet of most kids, this advice comes at a good time. Many children reach for these beverages at meal and snack time when they should be drinking milk or water.  There is also confusion between the two types of drinks. Many children chose an energy drink after exercising when what most of them need after regular exercise is water.  In situations where they may actually need a sports drink, many children chose the energy drink instead.

During regular exercise, most kids will do well with just plain water. There is no reason to hydrate them with a sports drink that has added sugars, because the extra calories can contribute to tooth decay and obesity. In the rare instance when it is very hot and your child has been sweating profusely or they have been exercising vigorously for a prolonged period of time, a sports drink can be useful because it replaces the salts (electrolytes) that are lost during these times.

Energy drinks, however, are a different story, since they most often have some sort of stimulant in them, most often caffeine, and quite a bit of sugar.  Other stimulants that they may contain are guarana (an herbal stimulant), ginseng, and taurine, among others. There is no place in a child’s diet for stimulants as they have been linked to harmful health effects on children’s developing neurologic and cardiovascular systems.  Kids will have enough energy when they follow healthy habits (eating right and getting enough sleep).

If your child doesn’t think that they are consuming too much caffeine then do the math, or better yet have them go a day or two without caffeine.  If they feel horrible, then they were drinking enough to develop a dependency, if not an addiction. The following are the average amounts of caffeine found in a can of cola (29 mg);  an 8 oz cup of coffee (95mg); and for every 8 oz of energy drinks (75-80 mg but it can range from 50 to 145mg per 8 oz). These are just typical values so beware and read the nutrition facts label because some cans or bottles of beverages marketed as “energy drinks” can contain up to 500 mg of caffeine and for several brands the amount is not listed on the label, which can be very dangerous.

Dr Debs’s bottom line: Avoid energy drinks as there is no place for caffeine and other stimulants in a child’s diet because they can be harmful. Save sports drinks for when those beverages may actually be needed such as during and after intense exercise.  There are no short cuts in life and artificially gaining a “buzz” or “boost” from stimulants (caffeine) will not promote health in either you or your child.  Since kids take the lead from their parents, avoid drinking these beverages yourself. Try going cold turkey together! Give kids water most of the time! If they need energy give them a piece of fruit or a glass of milk.

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